26 Conz Street
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FORM B − BUILDING
MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL COMMISSION
MASSACHUSETTS ARCHIVES BUILDING
220 MORRISSEY BOULEVARD
BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS 02125
Photograph
Topographic or Assessor's Map
Recorded by: Jayne Bernhard-Armington
Organization: Pioneer Valley Planning Commission
Date (month / year): June, 2010
Assessor’s Number USGS Quad Area(s) Form Number
32C-96 Easthampton NTH.2139
Town: Northampton
Place: (neighborhood or village)
Address: 26 Conz Street
Historic Name: Seth Strong House
Uses: Present: Single-family residence
Original: Single family residence
Date of Construction: 1828-1829
Source: Northampton Gazette
Style/Form: Federal
Architect/Builder:
Exterior Material:
Foundation: brick
Wall/Trim: brick
Roof: asphalt
Outbuildings/Secondary Structures:
Circa 1920 detached one-bay garage
Major Alterations (with dates):
Vinyl windows (post 1974)
Chimney removed (post 1974)
Front entry altered (post 1974)
Condition: Good
Moved: no | | yes | | Date
Acreage: 0.318 acres
Setting: House sits close to the busy Conz Street—a major
local and regional thoroughfare. Lot is narrow but very
deep with trees and shrubbery. House among former single
family homes that have been converted into multi unit
housing or for commercial use.
INVENTORY FORM B CONTINUATION SHEET [NORTHAMPTON] [26 CONZ STREET]
MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL COMMISSION Area(s) Form No.
220 MORRISSEY BOULEVARD, BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS 02125
Continuation sheet 1
NTH.2139
___ Recommended for listing in the National Register of Historic Places.
If checked, you must attach a completed National Register Criteria Statement form.
Use as much space as necessary to complete the following entries, allowing text to flow onto additional continuation sheets.
ARCHITECTURAL DESCRIPTION:
Describe architectural features. Evaluate the characteristics of this building in terms of other buildings within the community.
This is an early Federal style brick home of one-and-one-half stories under a side-gabled roof. It is a half-Cape that is three bays
wide and three bays deep. The clipped gables denoted that this home is an early Federal style home rather than a later Federal
Style home. The front entry’s original splayed stone lintel has been partially covered over by a suspended pediment supported
by decorative wooden brackets. This alteration occurred sometime after 1974. Windows exhibit the splayed stone lintels.
Windows have replacement two over two sashes and vinyl casings. The house originally had two brick end chimneys but these
were removed at some point after 1974. There is a one-story ell on northwest elevation of the home.
HISTORICAL NARRATIVE
Discuss the history of the building. Explain its associations with local (or state) history. Include uses of the building, and the role(s) the
owners/occupants played within the community.
From Form B of 1974: “This small brick cottage was probably built by Seth Strong. S. Strong obtained ¾ acres on the ‘north
side of the way leading from South Street into the Common Field’ in 1819. This became his homestead and Strong lived here
until 1828, when he sold this house and ¼ acre to Dexter Clark. The use of the premises was reserved until the first of
November, at which time Strong’s Round House was presumably finished. A master mason, veteran of the War of 1812,
representative of his district in the Legislature and a man of influence in his day, Seth Strong also built the old First Church, the
first Edwards Church, the old Mansion House, and other houses in Northampton.
Dexter Clark was also a mason, working with Seth Strong on many contracts. The house remained in the Clark family
for almost a century.”
BIBLIOGRAPHY and/or REFERENCES
Beers, F. W. County Atlas of Hampshire Massachusetts, New York, 1873.
Hales, John G. Plan of the Town or Northampton in the County of Hampshire, 1831.
Miller, D. L. Atlas of the City of Northampton and Town of Easthampton, Hampshire County, Massachusetts, Philadelphia, 1895.
Walker, George H. and Company. Atlas of Northampton City, Massachusetts, Boston, 1884.
Walling, Henry F. Map of Hampshire County, Massachusetts, New York, 1860.
Registry of Deeds: Bk. 59-P. 414